The measure, which joins others adopted by the Cuban Spoprts Institute, includes the Giraldilla badminton tournament (March 13-17), the Cuba-Australia Rugby Friendship Cup (March 20-27), a FIFA match against Nicaragua (March 25), the Varadero Half-Marathon (March 29) and the Caribbean Table Tennis Tournament (April 2-8).

Inder has also limited, as much as possible, the number of delegations traveling abroad, focusing on events directly linked to the Olympic and Paralympic qualification processes, as long as they are supported by their respective international federations and conditions in the host nation are favorable.

Likewise, health discussions and training sessions have been increased, with emphasis on schools and other centers where athletes of all categories study, train and/or compete, while careful monitoring to identify individuals with respiratory symptoms was stressed.

The work coordinated by the Sports Medicine Institute with public health authorities ensures rigorous follow-up on these and other measures, while maintaining contact with collaborators and athletes abroad, including those contracted by other federations, with no positive cases of Covid-19 reported, to date.

(Source: JIT)

Closing day, also attended by Víctor Gaute López, member of the Party Central Committee Secretariat and head of its Ideological Department, featured presentations on the thought and work of the Comandante en Jefe, including those by MSc René González Barrios highlighting Fidel’s internationalism; Fidel and the United States, by Dr. Elier Ramírez Cañedo; and Fidel and Justice, by Katiuska Blanco Castiñeira.

The latter described several passages in the life of the historical leader of the Revolution, from his beginnings as a student in Jesuit school, to become a beacon and guide of the Cuban nation. “There was no just cause that did not have him among its most vehement defenders: anti-racism, the dignification of university life, and the nation, the independence of Puerto Rico, solidarity with the Dominican people who suffered Trujillo’s excesses …” she noted.

Elba Rosa Pérez Montoya, minister of Science, Technology and the Environment, said: “We must deepen and disseminate knowledge of our history. It is a necessity for present and future generations. Attempts to rewrite, misrepresent and deceive do not cease, using modern means and technologies; hence the need of each one of us to redouble our efforts in the task of preserving and defending historical memory.

(Granma)

Regarding the meeting that brings together intellectuals and artists from several countries, the diplomat said that cultural horizons are expanded since Spaniards also arrived in the English-speaking Caribbean, recalling, “At one point, my country was under Spain’s governance.”

“Strengthening ties, joining forces is a 21st century way of thinking. I did not feel a visitor here; I noticed a real connection with shared histories. In the Caribbean there are many cultural ties relevant today,” said the man who has united a 30-year academic career in South American Studies with his diplomatic work.

“My books deal with all of Latin America. In them, and in the articles I write, the vision is always to bring the Caribbean closer,” he said after noting that the three years he has spent in Cuba promoting commercial and cultural ties, have served to enrich his intellectual heritage.

He said that one of the greatest satisfactions that his stay in this country has given him is participating in such academic forums.

With respect to the Holguin event, during which he made profound reflections on what identifies Caribbean and Latin American nations, he insisted that follow up is essential, and that ways of financing projects and agreements must be sought.

When he was asked about the presence of Cuban doctors in his nation, Cowie said that it is a strong agreement. “The entire Oncology departments of hospitals in my country are staffed by specialists from Cuba. We continue to request them given their high level of performance and humane conduct.”

Regarding the international campaign to discredit Cuba’s international medical collaboration, the diplomat referred to those who promote such misinformation, insisting that a single country or a ruler cannot make rules for the entire world.

(Granma)

These days will make a real contribution to confronting the current counterrevolutionary offensive of U.S. imperialism, to the search for the broadest possible unity of leftist forces in the region, and to the strengthening of militant solidarity with just causes defended by the peoples.

The necessary articulation between movements, organizations, and groups, whose axes of struggle involve confrontation with imperialism will be the center discussion at the gathering that brings together hundreds of social fighters, political leaders, intellectuals, campesinos, women, indigenous people, solidarity activists, and others.

The Havana conference, with the participation of the Cuban Revolution’s brothers and sisters from many parts of the world, encourages the heroic resistance of the Cuban people, determined to defeat the Helms-Burton Law and the blockade, intent upon advancing the updating of our economic and social development model, as the event’s convocation states.

The deep conviction that the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean will continue to march toward their second and definitive independence constitutes one of the pillars that will sustain debates.

According to the event’s program, work groups will meet to address topics such as Solidarity with Cuba and other just causes; Peoples in the face of free trade and transnational corporations; Decolonization and cultural warfare; in addition to Strategic communication and social struggle; Youth: strategies and continuity in struggles; Democracy, sovereignty and anti-imperialism; and Integration, identities, and common struggles.

(Granma)

“It’s a privilege to work with Cuba. I’m certain that these priorities will serve as a guide so that our cooperation is focused where it is most needed, has the greatest impact and allows for better results in the country’s health sector,” stated PAHO Director Carisse Etienne, during the signing ceremony.

Over almost six decades of Revolution, Cuba has given high priority to raising the health of its citizens, dedicating considerable efforts and resources to the creation and consolidation of the National Health System, she added.

For us it is a commitment to continue working together, in order to maintain their achievements and increasingly promote their development, Etienne stressed.

Photo: Lisandra Fariñas Acosta
Meanwhile, WHO Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed his gratitude for the opportunity this strategy represents for these organizations to extend cooperation in Cuba over the next four years.

Cuban Minister of Public Health Roberto Morales Ojeda described the Cooperation Strategy as very important, the second to be signed on the island.

“It will allow us to consolidate the work between the World Health Organization and Cuba, as well as continue obtaining better health indicators, higher quality, sustainability of the purposes and the development of our health and social system, to continue contributing to the region and other countries of the world,” he added.

The Strategy was signed by doctors Tedros Adhanom, Roberto Morales, Carissa Etienne and economist Cristian Morales, PAHO/WHO representative to Cuba.

NEW EDITION OF THE PAN AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH DEDICATED TO CUBA

Cuba’s achievements in health are recognized worldwide and the island is considered today one of the nations in the region that shows the greatest advances in this sector, acknowledged PAHO Director Carissa Etienne.

For this reason, she added, the advances, challenges and history of the public health system in Cuba are topics addressed in the special issue of the Pan American Journal of Public Health, launched on Tuesday as part of the activities of the Third Cuba-Salud International Convention 2018.

We know a lot about Cuba’s gains in the sector, but less about how they were achieved, despite being a nation with scarce resources, Etienne highlighted.

During the presentation it was also stressed that public health is a result of the organized efforts of society and the state, which emanates from political will and commitment, and have allowed Cuba to advance and improve the health of its people despite the United States blockade imposed for more than 50 years.

Roberto Morales Ojeda thanked the journal’s editorial board for the initiative to dedicate this special edition to health in Cuba.

The Public Health Minister also noted that this April 2018, Volume 42 of the Journal, “is an ideal strategy to convey the experience of Cuba in the development of its health system to the region’s community of health and medical sciences professionals.”

Morales also made a call to systematize scientific thinking and publish more of the research conducted in Cuban institutions, both locally and nationally, as a way to publicize the challenges of the sector and to disseminate everything Cuba does in this field.

For Cristian Morales, WHO/PAHO representative in Cuba, this special issue will serve as a source of information not only for thousands of Cuban doctors, but for all health professionals of the region.

It will show that having a quality health system accessible to all is an achievable goal in the 21st century, the official concluded.

(Granma)